minutes before 5:00. i'm reading some messages from ken who is inside the courtroom. he says the jury is asking the judge for clarification on what is reckless disregard for human life and what it means. the jury had a lot of options here. number one they could find alexis simpson guilty of first- degree murder, which would involve pre-meditation. she could also be found guilty of second-degree murder, which would not involve premeditation. and thirdly, the jury could find her guilty of voluntary manslaughter. and that would be as her defense has allege, if she found partial self-defense. if partial self-defense was a part of her case and the jury agreed with her, she would be found guilty of voluntary manslaughter. and of course the jury could

find her not guilty. i'm just getting word now from ken molestina who says that the judge has explained and allows them to go back to deliberations. and as for the jury's wishes, deliberations, they do continue at this hour and they are not being sent home. the senses, of course, the jury, they must be getting close to reaching a verdict. we will, of course, be monitoring developments. we'll bring you the verdict via twitter at andrea mccaren and at wusa9.com. of course, we'll get back on the air and get you new information as soon as it happens. again, the jury has asked for a little bit more time after a question to the judge. they want to stay and deliberate the fate of alexis simpson charged with murdering her roommate at bowie state university, dominique fraser. we'll be back. >> it does not get anymore up- to-the-minute on that. we'll get back to you if things

change. new information tonight about a sheriff deputy who shot and killed a suspect. this one happened on 63rd avenue east of maryland last night. investigators say that the deputy attempted to serve as the temporary peace order. the woman let the deputy inside the home. but once in there, they saw sweeney holding what appeared to be a black handgun and then shot and killed sweeney. we now know that firearms was a replica handgun. the sheriff department is investigating him out on administrative leave. a strange story out of northwest d.c. where a hoose principal was arrested and charged with assaulting a former staff member after a football game. we've got that story from matt jablo. >> reporter: it was a normal day today for students, except for the fact that their principal spent much of the day a few miles away at police

headquarters downtown. according to the police report, the victim, the 37-year-old hicks, the former afterschool coordinator here at coolidge high school was talking to some friends after a football game when suddenly she heard somebody shout get her. at that point according to the police report, the victim was punched in the head by a person now identified as the school's principal and then kicked in the side when she fell to the ground. the victim was not seriously injured. though she declined to be interviewed on camera, she told me on the phone that she had no idea what prompted the attack. matt jablow, 9news now. >> and in addition to that principal, the two other alleged attackers are also staffers at coolidge high. all three placed on administrative leave. today on capitol hill, they grilled their national security team about the u.s. consulate attack in libya. the ambassador and three other americans were killed back on september 11. the senator john mccain was

lashing out today at the president over the un ambassador's claims that the attack was not pre-planned. >> we believe whoever it is, they must be held responsible, i say to the president of the united states. most importantly the president of the united states, who is commander in chief. >> the former cia director david petraeus will be testifying tomorrow. and when petraeus gets up there to testify, it will be his first public appearance since resigning after his affair with the biographer paw la broadwell. the fbi uncovered that affair while investigating e-mails that broadwell had sent to tampa social lite jill kelley. they said that he just doesn't believe anybody else is involved in this scandal. >> and we want to know what you think. how much do you care about this petraeus scandal? are you completely rivetted, getting slightly bored, or c, wish we would move on already? i am always a, rivetted and

never bored with your e-mails. the address here is mailbag@wusa9.com. well president obama and the congressional leaders are slated to sit down together tomorrow, trying to keep the company from, or should i say the country from falling off the so-called fiscal cliff. it is an ugly mix of tax increases and spending cuts that could put the economy back into recession. and those cuts are likely to hit our region disproportionately hard. >> i'm bruce leshan on capitol hill where worried demonstrators from across d.c. urged house speaker john boehner to compromise with president obama and avoid direct budget cuts. >> jobs, no cuts. >> reporter: more than 100 protesters. >> 47%. this is the vietnam veteran. >> reporter: organized by the group rdc. crowded the hallways outside the house speaker's office. >> i have three children. >> reporter: april thomas was homeless up until two years ago when federal help finally put her young family in an

apartment in southeast. >> now i'm told that it will be a possibility that i might end up back where i came from. >> reporter: the speaker staff locked the doors. but a spokesperson says that they proposed a responsible and balanced framework to avert the fiscal cliff. bruce leshan, 9news now. it was the worst oil spill in our nation's history and today bp says they will pay $4.5 billion for that deadly oil rig explosion in the subsequent massive oil leak. that money will also include more than $1 billion in criminal penalties. bp plead guilty to 12 felony charges relating to the death of those 11 workers and lying to congress about the amount of oil that was pouring into the gulf. two bp employees and a former worker will also face manslaughter charges. victims of super storm sandy are hoping president obama's visit to new york city today will help spark some progress in the rebuild. the president got a first-hand look at the damage in places

like staten island, where some frustrated residence say they need fema to act faster. the agency has about $8 billion available, and they are expected to ask congress for even more. and topper is out on the weather terrace with a look at our forecast. top, it's a cool night. >> it is a cool night. i have added a sprinkle to the forecast south and east of town. not a huge deal. let's start with temperatures. the clouds are doing us a favor keeping temps up somewhat. 47 downtown, 47 at gaithersburg. 43 in leesburg and manassas and 36 up in frederick. satellite picture of the radar combined. watch this precipitation down through richmond, trying to take a turn to the north. most of it will go out to sea tonight and we will have a nice day tomorrow. but right now we're going to say a slight chance of a sprinkle south and east, otherwise mostly cloudy, lows in the 30s. we'll come back with another system we're watching for sunday. we'll let you know if that will go out to sea or interfere with the redskins game. >> thank you, top. tensions are escalating

tonight between the israeli army. no one hurt in that attack, but several israelis died. meanwhile israel continues their attacks in response to the hundreds of missiles launched. it's the heaviest in four years. still ahead tonight, police in maryland arrest mia farrell's brother. the disgusting crime he's accused of. plus, the god father controversy. joining us live in studio to explain what it is all about and why the god problem matters. and plus the fiscal turmoil in the middle east.

mia farrell's brother accused of sexually abusing children over several years. they charged him in edge water,

maryland. saying that he abused them from 2007 to 2008 when they were between the ages of 9 to 16. he's facing a host of charges, bonds, $800,000. president obama's second term inauguration is just months away and the plans are well underway. hundreds of service men and women from every branch of the military will be here helping to coordinate the ceremony and the parade. 27 of those folks showed up today. and you can bet that there will be plenty of spectators present at his inauguration in '09, record clouds -- record crowds of 2 million. cool, but clear. topper is here in just a minute with a full look at your forecast. and right after the break, the god problem. the author will be here to tell us what he is talking about and why it is important to you.

our guest tonight has worked with some of the biggest names in rock 'n' roll. but the relentless curiosity and the intelligent mind allowed them to go on and write a series of books. they ask the question, how does the universe create themselves from nothing? he is the author of the god problem here with us. the first question, is there a god problem? >> yes, there is a big god problem. if you are an atheist like me,

then how in the world do you go from nothing at all to an explosion in time and space? what is time and space? they never existed before. then we're sitting at the cafe table at the beginning of the universe. you're a brilliant version nair and i'm an old stick in the mud and you say do you see that giant sheet of space and time unfurling like a giant handkerchief and you say any second now there are things that are going to appear and i will say derek, things? there will never be any things and this is imaginative. add time and space and what do you get? time and space, period. >> and how did that all form? >> yes. >> is there a short answer to that question? >> the short answer of the question is if you're a scientist like me, your obligation is to figure out how all these things came to be. and if you do believe in a god, then you have an even bigger problem. this is the most astonishing

cosmos that we know of. yet it is cruel, violent. anything that's born, we have life for 3.5 million years. anything born will guarantee you that there and is it a kindly and godly thing? >> yes, it seems arbitrary. if that is what you're saying. a war crime. let's talk about some of those things. and you only have three minutes. and that we've got one of them. and that it will be too close about one for the east culture. once upon a time the two chemists and these two guys at the end of the 18th century to discover that you could produce two gases and they both look the same to put them in that bell jar. they look identical. put them together. if you add two gases, then all you have is one plus one equals two. so try putting on a match. now what happens? wow them, an explosion and this bizarre substance that bobbles on the table and you can put

your finger through what you feel. it is called liquid, water. now how in the world can you deal with these gases? how will it be equal to an explosion of water. >> okay. but that kind of thing happens in this universe all the time. it's the kind of thing that will need to be explained. >> all right, let's turn that mind to yours to some of the things that you're dealing with. >> the fiscal cliff is a phony. and there was two days ago, an event thrown by the new america foundation and it was expert after expert after expert talking about the fiscal cliff. it is rigged by the republican. and now look i'm a democrat. i have my biases. right? but it will be rigged by the republicans to get rid of the fdrs, their new deal. it is jerry rigged to get rid of the social security other entitlements. the deal is okay, we'll al with once again upping the cap on what this country can borrow, which by the way was done over and over again during

the bush administration without any complaints. we'll up the tab if you cut social security by 10% or more. that's the deal. by linking them together, you've got them focused on the debt ceiling and they don't notice that money is being sold. >> let's talk quickly about the middle east. things are getting worse and worse and we're not allowed to talk about it. a war between all of them. and they both want to be snakes, well, the iranians do. they want nuclear weapons, they want to control the middle east. and the iranians want to control the world of islams. and they have 1.6 billion. and the iranians and the saw des are fighting in a country called syria. we do not have a democratic resolution in syria. those are the guys whose side we tend to be on. and then approximately for the iranians, they happen to be a

facade. that's the big picture. ingly wish i could pick your brain for another couple hours, but we've got to get to the weather forecast. "the god problem." i suggest you head over to the bookstore or maybe go online and get it on your kindle. topper? >> yeah, good stuff. all right, let's talk about the cooler weather. it was 72 here on monday. 65 on tuesday, although a footnote, that 65 occurred at midnight. 49 y.51 today. shooting for 54 tomorrow. the temperatures have taken a tumble. average high is about 59. the live look outside, the live weather cam. there's a game going on. right now 47. high again only 51. dew points in the 30s. winds are northeast at 6 and the pressure has gone up just a little bit since the last hour. satellite picture radar combined. we will talk about this storm out in the west later tomorrow and the next day. and in fact that's where all the storminess will be for

travel day before thanksgiving. for us tonight though. that's the system bringing us the high clouds and the lower clouds today and tonight and i had to put a chance of the sprinkle here because of some of the precipitation moving more north as opposed to northeast. it'll peel and go out to sea and leave us with a very nice day. temperatures, 37. 36 already in gaithersburg. 47 in great falls. 43 in vienna and arlington and down to 34 in college park. 39 right now for the big temperature. that's with the clouds. and the clouds will be hanging tough. cold tonight. you'll need a jacket. a strong finish for the week tomorrow. and a nice weekend. we're in pretty good shape afterall, including all of sunday. mostly cloudy tonight. cold. the low temperatures in the 30s. and now tomorrow morning, we're looking at skies returning partly cloudy, a chilly start. 30s and 40s. and by the afternoon, a nice day. really not much wind.

mostly sunny skies. almost seasonable. high temperatures near 55. that's a very decent day for mid-november. the next three days. they are green, green, green. cool, but nice on friday. a few clouds to start, nice on friday, mostly sunny. and then on sunday, maybe a few clouds. just maybe a few clouds. we'll need to pull that out too. with the temperatures in the lower 50s. the next three days. a chance of a sprinkle or shower in early monday or late sunday night. but i might need to pull that out. we'll talk more about that story at 11:00. and then look at next week, derek. it's pretty nice. upper 50s on tuesday. mid-50s for travel day. that's nice. a little too warm for my taste, but there it is the sunshine. >> you're the only one. >> we like a little cold and a little fire going. >> yes, i want to go out and ride. we'll be right back in just a minute.

tonight, mitt romney explains via conference call that he lost the presidential election because president barack obama was out there offering gifts in the things like the dream act for latino voters and free contraception for young women. but robin from warrenton, virginia says that romney needs to get over himself. this is ridiculous already. when is he going to accept the fact that he lost for the race for president and now he insists why he lost the election? what a cry baby. even some republicans have been criminal cal for romney -- critical for romney. the bowie state student who stabbed her roommate. let's get right out to the live report at the courthouse with that verdict. andrea? >> reporter: well derek, as i have been telling you, ken molestina is messaging me with the very latest. if this is the case, it is a total shocker. not guilty on all seven counts

is the verdict i'm getting from ken in the courtroom. this would be the case of alexis simpson, accused of stabbing her bowie state university roommate dominique frasier to death just weeks after the school year started. it looked like not guilty on all seven counts. be sure to tune in to 9news at 11:00 for the very latest. back to you. >> thank you. i too am picking my jaw upoff the floor -- jaw up on the floor. that's a shocker. we'll be back at 11:00 with the latest on that.

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